Fairy Vampire
by Nikhil.G
Summary: What happens when a mysterious girl transports Shiki and Arcueid to Earthland in the kingdom of Fiore. Read this Fanfiction to find out.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Tsukihime or Fairy tail in anyway. They are owned by their respective creators.

**Author's Note**

Hope you like my new fanfiction. It is my first fan fiction so please spend time to review my fanfic.

**Prologue**

Two years have passed since the day Shiki fought and defeated Michael Roa. Shiki had completed his high school and was looking to further his studies. But under this casual appearance he was constantly searching for Arcueid Brunestud. His life had been changed by her. She had given his previously aimless life some meaning. But even after two years, he had not got a single clue about her whereabouts except that she slumbered in the Millennium Castle Brunestud. Despite having no lead for over two years he did not give up his quest and it seems that today he was finally going to get some lead.

It was about dusk time and Shiki was returning to the Tohno house after his college. Suddenly he felt an alien presence around hm. He instinctively went to the knife he kept in his pocket and looked around for the source of the disturbance. He felt it coming from a side alley. Shiki decided to go investigate it. When he reached there he saw a girl. She had long wavy blonde hair and green eyes. She looked about 12-15 but Shiki couldn't be too sure because of her appearance. Anyway he couldn't be sure with inhuman beings.

The strange girl asked him "You are Shiki Tohno right."

Shiki hesitated a little before answering "Yes I am Shiki Tohno. What is your name?"

"My name is not important right now what is important is if you would like to meet and live with Arcueid for a while." The girl asked.

Shiki's eyes widened. Here was a girl who was giving him want he was searching for the past two years.

"What's the catch?" Shiki asked the girl.

"There is just one condition you can't stay with Arcueid in this world you have to go to another world with her. So are you willing to give up your life in this world to stay with Arcueid? If you are ready please tell me so at once."

"Yes I am ready to go with you." Shiki replied almost immediately.

The girl was taken aback by his promptness but managed to gather herself quickly.

"Well then let's open the gateway." She said this and waved her hand.

A portal opened sucking both Shiki and the girl into the void. Shiki flinched at the sudden lack of senses around him and when he opened his eyes he saw that he was in a dark place which was surrounded by many clusters of what appeared to by small stars. But what really caught his attention was the blond that was standing in front of him.

"Shiki!" she screamed and hugged him.

Shiki was momentarily taken by surprise and when he recovered he hugged her back affectionately.

"Arcueid, you idiotic woman, do you know what you have made me undergo for the past two years searching for you. Did you really think I was giving up on you that easily" Shiki scolded her.

"I am sorry" Arcueid replied remorsefully.

Shiki then asked her "What are you doing here? I thought that you were slumbering in your castle until the next time you were awakened."

"I was sleeping there but a couple of days ago she came to my castle and persuaded me to come with her to meet you here." Arcueid said while pointing to the blonde girl.

"What is your reason in bringing us here and where exactly are we?" Shiki asked the girl.

"My reason in bringing you here was to a lesser extent so that you to may live together and my main objective of bringing you here ... For now I would like to keep that a secret. Don't worry they will be revealed in due course of time. As for your second question we are right now in the passage between worlds. The Spiral clusters of light you see are different worlds. The world we are going to right now is that one." She said while pointing to a bright cluster of light.

Arcueid interrupted her "If I may ask you a question, how can we move from one world to another."

"Each of these worlds is governed by a set of defining rules they are also known as laws of nature. These laws are not foolproof or perfect. By finding loopholes in these laws we are able to move from one world to another. But the laws of nature in one world are very different from the laws of another. Hence it follows that the loopholes are also different."

Shiki suddenly saw a spiral which was dimmer and smaller than the other spirals. Curious about this he asked the girl about it.

"Those spirals are world's that are nearing their end either caused by natural causes or brought about artificially." The girl replied

The continued following her in silence after that. Shiki and Arcueid were thinking as to how an entire world could end and if it were so how much time each world had before it ends. After about a quarter of an hour's journey they reached the world in which they were to go. The girl chanted a mantra and a small funnel like projection appeared in the spiral.

"Well that's your ticket. Just put your hand in it and it will suck you into it." Shiki and Arcueid each put a hand into it while they grasped each other with the other hand.

"Oh and by the way I am not very sure about the loophole in this world so it would be nice if you forgave me if anything bad happens to you."

"What the hell ..."

Shiki didn't get time to finish as he was cut off by a sudden white light and all that he could sense was Arcueid's hand slowly slipping away from his own. Finally he blanked out and was rendered senseless.

** Author's Note**

**I have changed the formatting to improve readability.**


	2. First Impression

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Fairy Tail or Tsukihime in anyway. Theyare owned by their respective author's

**Author's Note**

The second chapter of my fanfiction (the first being the prologue) has been released. Please do not forget to review and help me improve my writing.

**Chapter 1**

**First Impression**

On a hill in Fiore a young man dressed in a dark blue cloak with bandages covering most of his arms and legs and a bandana with a silver forehead protector suddenly stumbled.

"Anima..." he gasped out.

His name was Mystogan and he was one of the S class mages in the guild of Fairy Tail. Mystogan quickly recovered himself and began wondering

"That outburst just now was similar to the anima but it was different just a hair's breadth away of the Eternano signature of the Anima. The magnitude of that burst was far more powerful than the regular Anima."

He made his way to the place from where the Eternano signatures were interrupted.

Shiki woke up to find that he was lying in a forest with his back to a tree. He saw Arcueid lying unconscious a few metres away. He was concerned about her and went to her and began shaking her calling out her name. After a few seconds she groggily came around.

"Shi...iki" she said sleepily.

"Oh Arcueid thank God you are alright" Shiki said relieved.

Shiki helped Arcueid stand and then looked carefully at his surroundings.

"We seem to be in some kind of forest but judging by the denseness of the trees this forest should not be very large."

He heard a thud behind him and when he looked back he saw Arcueid slumped on the ground.

Concern for her washed over him and he immediately bends down to her. He shook her called her name a few times until she woke up again.

"What happened" Shiki enquired seriously.

Arcueid seeing his serious expression began laughing.

"Oh its nothing, It is only this world's Earth or Gaia is different from that of our own planet." she said nonchalantly. "

In which manner is it different?" Shiki asked.

"Our Gaia is alive and has a lot of energy within it but this world's Gaia seems to be overflowing with energy. Just now when I tapped into its energy I felt is rushing into me and it has completely healed me and now I have enough energy to hold back my Vampiric impulses."

"So that's good right." Shiki replied relieved that Arcueid would not have to suffer trying to keep her impulses in check as now she had the energy to suppress it.

"We...ll there is something else." Arcueid replied slowly.

"What is it?" Shiki asked worried at her tone.

"The sudden input of energy from the Earth and the difference in powers between the Earth of this planet and the Earth back home has temporarily disabled most of my powers. All I think I can do right now are my Vampiric claws and that to a degraded version."

"That could be a problem but I do not think that we are in any hostile world right now." Shiki replied thoughtfully.

"I suggest that we leave this forest and go to someplace where we can get more information on where exactly we are."

Shiki agreed to her suggestion and they left the forest in the direction they thought would lead them out. From a nearby tree Mystogan watched the duo with curious eyes.

"These two do not seem to be evil but they are indeed powerful, better to let them be for the time being and keep a periodic watch on them" saying this Mystogan vanished into thin air.

Two days later Shiki and Arcueid reached the town of Hargeon. Here Arcueid asked Shiki to take her to the local restaurant to which Shiki reluctantly agrees. They had got the money previously when they fought and defeated some highway thieves and they had managed to get some information about the world they were currently in. As Arcueid was eating burgers Shiki mused over the developments that had occurred these past few days.

"We are now in Earthland in the kingdom of Fiore and this magic apparently has magic which is similar to our own mage craft. And what is more is that in this world mages are very common and they do not have to practise magic secretly." Shiki told her.

"Hn" Arcueid mumbled over a bite of food. Shiki stopped his musing and looked and Arcueid. He nearly burst out into laughter when he saw Arcueid munching on a king sized burger.

"The great princess of True Ancestors, Arcueid Brunestud has at last met her match in a burger." He joked.

"You meanie" Arcueid replied clearly hurt.

For a few minutes they continued to eat in silence. Arcueid notices something outdoors.

"What is that?"

Shiki looked at what she was pointing and saw many people; most of them girls crowd around a man.

"It is probably some famous guy and his fan club." Shiki announced.

"Then come let's go and see it," Arcueid replied leaving her food and walking out the restaurant.

Shiki sighed and finished his food quickly paying the bill and followed her outside.

xxxxxxx

Meanwhile in Hargeon station a sorry spectacle can be seen. A boy with pink hair and black wearing a Gray scarf is lying passed out on the seat while a blue cat was standing next to him and reassuring him. This was no ordinary group. The boy was Natsu Dragneel who was looking for his foster Father Igneel and the cat was his friend and could talk as well as fly. Natsu was nauseous right now because he had a severe case of motion sickness and whenever he rode on a carriage his state used to be similar to the one he is in now.

"Oh I'm never going to ride again" the boy, Natsu said.

"You always tell that but you are forced to ride carriages again," Happy replied "don't forget why we came here in the first place for, Natsu."

They disembarked from the train and began searching for the so called salamander. Natsu's father Igneel was a dragon and when Natsu was still young he had left him and went away. Natsu thought that salamander was Igneel as he could not understand who else could be called salamander. Natsu wobbled up to a person who was standing nearby and asked him in a shaky voice

"Could you tell me where I can find Salamander."

"Ho Ho, no problems just follow the crowd of girls they will take you straight to salamander."

Natsu thanked him and walked towards the crowd. He said to Happy

"Looks like Igneel became popular among humans too." Natsu told Happy.

Natsu saw a huge crowd of girls surrounding a figure. Eager to meet his foster father he pushed his way into the crowd.

Arcueid and Shiki on the other hand still stood some distance away as they had no means of going any closer due to the thickness of the crowd.

"Looks like the crowd is too thick to get even a glimpse of him" Shiki told Arcueid.

They slowly begin to move away from the crowd.

Natsu after struggling and shouting for a while reached the front of the crowd but the only person he saw in the midst of the crowd was not Igneel but some other guy with blue hair and black eyes who was showing antics with fire magic. Natsu was disappointed with this. Seeing the young man who had barged up to him Salamander was taken by surprise which he quickly covered up and asked him in front of the crowd if he wanted his autograph. Natsu instantly declined and told him that he had mistaken him for somebody else. He walked away from the crowd of girls but they had other plans for the pink haired boy. They caught Natsu and thrashed him up badly. Then they followed Salamander to another place.

Shiki and Arcueid saw this and they decided to help the boy. Shiki helped the boy to sit and then asked him

"Are you alright?"

"Yes" he replied sorrowfully.

"Why do you seem so sad?" Arcueid asked the pink haired boy.

They were interrupted when a blonde girl walked up to them and thanked Natsu. All of them look at her, confused.

"Why do you thank me?" Natsu asked.

She offered to tell them everything over lunch. Which Natsu and Arcueid gladly accepted?

"Salamander had been using a form of magic called charm which made anyone fall in love him but Natsu's sudden emergence had broken the spells hold on me and once I realized that it was the spell, Charm had no effect on me," She then asked Natsu "What were you doing there?"

"I was there looking for my foster father Igneel. I thought that maybe Salamander was Igneel."

"Why would you think that Igneel would be called Salamander?" Shiki questioned.

"That's because he is a dragon, a real dragon." Natsu replied.

Shock was plainly shown on the faces of the others.

"You're father is... is a dra... gon." Lucy stuttered.

"Yeah" Natsu replied

"Anyway what are you guys doing in this town?" Natsu asked Lucy and the others.

"We're simply visiting this town" Shiki replied.

"I am a mage," Lucy stated to the astonishment of the others "I came here to join a renowned guild." Lucy said with stars in her eyes.

"Judging by your feeling joining a guild seems to be a great thing" Arcueid asked curiously.

"Yes it is. In a guild mages can do jobs, make new friends and live with other guild members as family." Lucy replied with great ecstasy.

"Joining a guild sounds like fun" Arcueid mumbled looking at Shiki.

"Oh no" Shiki sweat-dropped as he guessed that the idea of joining a guild was going on in Arcueid's mind.

"Hey Shiki-" Arcueid was cut off by Lucy who stood up and announced

"I have to go now I'll be filling your bill as a thank you repayment for saving me from Salamander." Natsu and happy knelt down on hearing this.

"Thank you for paying our bill, Lucy."

"It... It was nothing" Lucy said embarrassed.

Natsu and Happy also left after some time and went their own way, which left Shiki and Arcueid alone to stroll around the town.

Lucy walked to a park where she sat down musing over the various guilds in which she could enrol. She sighed

'I would prefer to be in the top guild in the country Fairy Tail but they probably have some tough entrance procedure.'

She heard some sound in the bushes and turned around to see Salamander.

"Stay away I know you are using Charm magic on all the other girls and as I have realized this your magic no longer affects me." Lucy told Salamander.

"I knew from the first time I set my eyes on you that you were a mage. I heard you doubts about which guild to join so I came here to offer my assistance to you."

"In which way can you help me" Lucy asked him sceptically.

"Have you never heard of salamander... of Fairy Tail?" He said dramatically.

"Fairy Tail" Lucy asked him surprised.

"Yes, I give you an offer, if you come aboard my ship tonight for a night party I will personally tell the master about you.

"Thank you so much" Lucy replied.

Time skip

In the town of Hargeon on this day the night was very active with many girls going to Salamander's ship to attend his party. A pink-headed boy was walking around the docks aimlessly when he heard some girls say

"Did you know that Salamander of Fairy Tail is giving a grand party on his ship and he will choose one of the female mages to accompany him to Fairy Tail?"

"Oh how lucky I wish I was a mage." The other girl replied.

"Fairy Tail... FAIRY TAIL...**FAIRY TAIL**, I've never seen that guy in Fairy Tail." Natsu said angrily.

"He must be lying" Happy said stating the obvious as always.

"Impersonating a guild member is a crime we have to go and stop him" saying this he ran for the docks at a great speed.

Arcueid and Shiki were also hanging out at the docks when they saw Natsu run past them in a frenzy.

"Hey where are you going" Arcueid called out to him pleasantly.

"Going to make him pay for misusing the guild name," Natsu yelled out without waiting to give an explanation.

"What is he doing in such a hurry and what does he mean by 'guild name'." Shiki wondered.

"Hey Shiki," Arcueid said "Can we join a guild. From what Lucy said joining a guild seems to be a fun thing."

Shiki sweat-dropped at hearing his fears being confirmed, he thought of some way to dissuade Arcueid but before he could do so he was again interrupted by Arcueid

"Hey Shiki where do you think those girls are going."

Shiki relieved that Arcueid's personality did not make her dwell on a subject too long focused his attention on the girls.

"They seem to be going to that boat there is a party aboard hosted by the man in the square." Shiki said remembering what few of the girl's passing by had said.

"Shall we go to" Arcueid pleaded with Shiki. Shiki thought about it for a moment and said "OK but we are going not to the party but to investigate. Something does not seem right on that ship and a man who uses magic to become popular do not sound well."

"Yes" Arcueid replied with childlike glee. Shiki and Arcueid make their way to the ship in which Salamander was hosting his party.

Lucy ready in her best dress and went to the onboard party where she saw that almost all of the guests were girls or women.

'This is very strange all the guests are girls' Lucy thought.

Her musings were cut short by the appearance of the host himself. He graciously welcomed the guest and asked a few guests including Lucy to come with him upstairs. The girls who were chosen all screamed in delight. When they reached upstairs they found Salamander in the company of a few men who looked like pirates.

"Welcome my dear guests please have a drink" he told them. All the girls accepted the drinks that were offered to them. Lucy put the glass to her lips when she noticed that the oddness in the air. She immediately confronted Salamander

"What are you doing?"

Salamander was surprised at this.

"So you managed to notice my spell you seem to be better than the rest."

He pointed to the other girls who were all unconscious. Lucy seeing the other girls was enraged and she took out a golden key from her pocket.

"Looks like I have to make you pay for what you were trying to do."

She swung her key in the air.

"Open the gate of the-"

She was interrupted when Salamander used his flame magic and took all of her keys.

"I know the type of magic you use. For it to work you need to have physical contact with your keys. Hence if you do not have any keys you can't cast any magic. Guards restrain her." He shouted and a couple of the men caught her hand and feet and pinned her to the wall making her unable to move.

"What are you doing?" she pleaded with tears in her eyes. "Is this how the wizards of Fairy Tail deal with others? I never want to be a part of such a disgusting guild." Lucy shouted.

"As an answer to your first question we are going to sell you as slaves in other countries. Second this is how I treat all girls. I am Bora a slave trader you see." despair could be seen in Lucy's eyes as she understood that she was going to be sold as a slave in another country. She started to cry. Tears began rolling down her face in despair.

Natsu was outside the ship trying to force his way inside the ship. But as the ship was too far away he could not reach it. Behind him Shiki and Arcueid also reached the edge of the pier where they saw the ship in the middle of the ocean.

"Come on Happy" Natsu shouted.

"Aye Aye" replied Happy and to Shiki and Arcueid's surprise sprouted a pair of wings and lifted Natsu into the air and towards the ship.

"Flying cats that have the ability talk. This world never ceases to amaze me." Shiki replied awestruck.

They saw Natsu and Happy fly towards the ship and Natsu disembark onto the ship.

"Come on Shiki we also need to go to the ship." Arcueid told Shiki.

"And how exactly do you plan we do that. The ship is almost half a mile into the sea." Shiki told her.

"It is simple; I carry you and jump till the ship." Arcueid replied as if it was the most normal thing to do.

Without waiting for an answer she picked Shiki up bridal style and jumped. She managed to reach the ship in just one jump from the pier and they saw many girls lying on the deck unconscious and some being carried away by men.

"Looks like my hunch were not wrong there is something bad that is going on here." Shiki stated.

"Come on Arcueid we got to find the person who is behind all this and make him pay for what he was planning to do."

"But first I have to reign in this boat and anchor it ashore." Shiki said before walking towards the helm of the boat.

"Arcueid you look for the other guy Natsu and help him if he is in any trouble." Shiki told before disappearing from sight.

Lucy on the other hand was being manhandled by Bora and his goons. She had given up all hope when the ceiling above her crashed and a boy landed on two of her captors crushing them that instant. Bora and his goons were shocked to see this pink headed boy while Lucy was relieved to see Natsu.

"Natsu" she said glad to see the boy.

What happened next took everyone by surprise. Natsu became sick and nauseous as soon as he entered the ship. Happy came gliding in through the hole Natsu had created when he burst in.

"Natsu you should have thought that you were charging into a moving ship before doing it. You do have a severe case of motion sickness." Happy replied from above.

Bora stepped near Natsu and kicked him in the face sending him skidding along the floor.

"Who do you think you are trying to interrupt my business? Did you really think that you alone could take care of all of us here? It looks like I will have some fun with you before dumping you into the ocean."

Natsu's only response to this was barfing up on the floor. Bora gave him another kick this time straight on her face.

The guards that were restraining her loosened their hold on her this was all she needed to slip free.

"Hiyah, take this LUCY KICK" she shouted and kicked her two captors on their faces.

They both fell down unconscious. Happy picked up Lucy as she fell and flew here and there with her dodging the magic blasts from the mages that were trying to capture her.

"I have to find my keys," Lucy told Happy. "If I get my hands on them I could use my magic and free them.

Happy directed her gaze towards the belt worn by Bora

"Are those you're keys?" Happy asked Lucy.

There on his belt Lucy's Keys were hung. As they were making their way towards Bora dodging blasts one of the mages surprised Happy by firing at them from their back. Though Happy managed to evade the majority of the attack he crashed into the floor along with Lucy. All the other Mages surrounded Lucy and Happy and began to smirk menacingly. Suddenly the door blast open and from the ruin of the door emerged Arcueid. Few of the men were captivated by looking at her. But she strode straight forth towards Lucy and asked her

"Lucy are you alright."

"Yes I am," Lucy replied "But you should get out of here as soon as possible these guys are real mages. By this time the so called mages had formed a perimeter around trapping Arcueid and Lucy inside.

"Do you really think you are going to get out after effectively strolling in here? The mages replied sinisterly.

Natsu in a corner of the room was being tortured by Bora. Bora witnessed the coming of the strange blonde but he was confident in his lackeys' abilities. He continued to kick and hurl Natsu along the floor. Arcueid on the other hand was calmly gazing into the men's face. She grasped Lucy's hand and began to walk away. Angered by her lack of emotion they charged her at the same time. Little to say Arcueid morphed her hands into vampiric claws and slashed at them within a few minutes all of them were unconscious.

Bora was shocked at what he was seeing apparently the second blond had destroyed all of his lackeys in a matter of minutes. He left Natsu in order to fight Arcueid. She morphed her hands into claws again and slashed at Bora. Bora barely managed to dodge it. He then used **Prominence Whip**. Arcueid was blasted back but emerged nearly unharmed by his spell. Bora was shocked at this. Suddenly the ship rammed somewhere and it stopped moving. As soon as it stopped moving Natsu was up and moving.

"You dared to misuse the name of Fairy Tail by claiming to belong to that guild even though you do not. You must pay for it."

"Natsu he is a mage" Lucy warned Natsu.

"Don't worry Natsu is also a mage."

"What!" Lucy exclaimed clearly surprised. Natsu cloaked his body in flames and charge at Bora. Bora used his flames and blocked the attack nut the sheer force of Natsu's attack blasted them through the ship wall into the beach.

Shiki emerged from the helm. Arcueid, Lucy and Happy followed Natsu through the path that he had just created in the ship. They saw Natsu and Bora facing off against each other. Shiki and Arcueid tried to help Natsu but Happy held them back telling them it was something that Natsu had to do. Natsu cloaked himself in flames and Bora also shot flame from his hand.

"You dared to dishonour the name of Fairy Tail. I am going to make you pay" he said showing off his guild mark at his shoulder.

"You destroyed my career all of my girls are set free because of you. Because of you I won't be able to sell any slaves." Bora accused Natsu.

They Charged at Each other.

"Eat this" Bora yelled "My strongest magic **Hell Prominence**."

He put his arms in front of him and gathered energy and then blasted it at Natsu.

"That kid is probably ash by now. These flames can burn down an entire town in one attack." Bora declared.

"Hmm these flames are one of the most disgusting ones that I have ever tasted. Everyone looked into the flames and all except Happy were surprised at what they saw. Natsu was eating the flames. Literally eating it, after eating it, it seemed that Natsu's power increased.

"I'm all Fired up" Natsu declared.

"Natsu was taught magic by his foster father. It allows him to posses the scales of a dragon that make him immune to any fire. He can eat fire to restore his energy. He can also transform his body part into that of a Dragon. This is his magic 'Dragon Slayer Magic'." Happy explained to Arcueid and Shiki.

Bora's friends also recognized him.

"He is the fire mage from fairy tail, he is the real Salamander." They told him in equal parts of surprise as well as fear.

Before Bora could react any more than widen his eyes Natsu was upon him with his Fire Dragon's Wing Slash. Needless to say Bora and all his companions were swept away by the ferocity of his attack.

They heard some sound and when they looked back they saw the Rune Knights assembling before them.

"Great now we are going to be arrested by this world's law enforcers." Shiki thought Suddenly Natsu grasped Lucy's hand and pulled her along.

"Where are you taking me" she asked him.

"Didn't you say you wanted to join Fairy Tail?" He replied.

She understood him and began following him. At the same time Arcueid pulled Shiki and followed them.

"Where are you going?" Shiki asked.

"To join a guild of course" she replied back sweetly.

Taken aback by her sudden decision he immediately wanted to refuse her, but her smiling face was too hard to refuse.

"Fine," he said and followed her

**Author's Note**

As you can see I have reduced the power of Arcueid at least for the time being to the power levels slightly lower than that of Natsu to help her fit into fairy tail. Also I had her fully healed so that she could better control her vampiric impulses. I have made shiki stronger than Arcueid barring physical strength until she manages to get her power back.

Secondly this chapter is in line with the canon except for a few instances and the fight scene. I do intend to do side stories that are out of line with the canon but the main story will follow the canon storyline.

Finally don't forget to review on what you suggest. I would definitely try to incorporate it within my story.

Modified the formatting to improve readability. Sorry for all the grammatical errors.


	3. Fairy Tail

**Discaimer**

I do not own Fairy Tail or Tsukihime in any way. They are owned by their respective owner's

**Author's Notes**

The second chapter is here. This chapter also mainly follows the canon.

Please review on how you liked this chapter as well as tips for improving it.

**Chapter 2**

**Fairy Tail**

Natsu led Lucy, Shiki and Arcueid to the town of Magnolia. Lucy expected Fairy Tail to be a grand building. But she was disappointed when Natsu stopped in front of a two story building and proudly proclaimed "Welcome to Fairy Tail." He strode through the doors with Arcueid, Shiki and Lucy following him. "I'm back" he announced to the people in the guild. Suddenly one of the guild members stood up and said to Natsu "Natsu you idiot, you caused a lot of damage in the last town you were in. The Council is all on your case now." Natsu didn't answer him. Instead he punched the man on his face sending him flying across the guild hall. "The information you gave was incorrect. That was not Salamander. It was not Igneel rather it was a second grade fire mage.

"Hey it's not my problem that the Salamander was not Igneel. I just heard Salamander was in town and passed on the info to you." The mage was then sent flying by a punch from behind. "Look where you are flinging people you knucklehead." A boy in his underwear told Natsu. "Put some clothes on you popsicle." Natsu replied back igniting his hands. "Make me you flame brain." Gray replied back. In an instant those two were fighting with each other. "A real man never backs down." A silver haired man told before joining the fight. "Can't you guys keep quiet? I can't even drink in peace." A girl said putting down a barrel of ale. Within a matter of seconds the whole guild was fighting. Lucy, Shiki and Arcueid watched them in surprise and horror. A silver haired girl wearing a pink waitress' gown came to Lucy and the others. "Don't worry this happens all the time within the guild. By the way I am Mirajane." The girl introduced herself. She moved her head to the side to dodge a flying bottle which was coming her way. "A real man" the silver haired guy began before he was cut off by a punch by Natsu. He was sent flying and he crashed into Mira. "Come on you guys can't you even fight straight." Natsu yelled in glee.

A huge thud was heard behind them near the door. Lucy, Shiki and Arcueid turned around to see a giant in the hallway. All the other Guild members seeing the giant stopped their fighting. Natsu with his back turned towards the doorway did not see the giant and he proclaimed "so at last all of you give up before my might. HA H..." His laughing was cut short when the giant stomped Natsu into the ground. The newcomers were shocked at this and more than one of them sweat dropped at it. Lucy whispers to Mira "Who is that guy?" "Oh him, he is the guild master of fairy tail." Mira told Lucy before welcoming the master. The master for the first time noticing Lucy, Shiki and Arcueid shrunk again until he became a extremely short man. "And what may I suppose brings you here?" He asked Lucy and the others. 'This guy looks very wise. he would probably guess something was not right with Arcueid' Shiki thought to himself. "We wish to join fairy Tail" Lucy said without any hesitation feeling quiet at ease with the grandfather like feeling this man was giving out. "Ok you should talk to Mira and settle it out with her. She will give you your stamp which indicates you have joined a guild. I have an announcement to make." Shiki sighed in relief,gad that he had not noticed anything about him or Arcueid.

He jumped to the second floor of the guild and raised him voice "You brats have certainly caused me a lot of trouble. I have to spend an entire day answering to the council about the damage that you people cause." He showed them a bunch of papers. "These are the reports of the damages that you have caused in the past month. More than half of these are yours, Natsu." He said looking at Natsu. The said boy grinned sheepishly. But we as Fairy Tail wizards should do what we think is right. We should not care about the watchful eyes from above." Makarov declared burning the complaints and tossing them aside. Natsu jumped up and began eating it while the rest of the guild cheered at the master's speech. Lucy was extremely happy that she was able to join such a guild as this. Shiki on the other hand thought about the master's speech.

Mirajane gives the newcomers a tour around the guild building. She takes them to the counter and takes out a stamp box. She asked them where they would prefer their stamp and which colour. Lucy opted for pink and got a pink seal on the back of her palm. Arcueid asked for a white stamp whereas Shiki opted for a black one. Lucy, Shiki and Arcueid stride over to the request board where Natsu was standing. They show Natsu their stamps. Natsu congratulates them on formally enrolling in Fairy Tail.

Meanwhile a young boy is seen arguing with the Master. "You've got to send someone to look for dad he has gone on a mission for five days and yet not returned." "Don't worry Romeo your father is a mage of Fairy Tail. If we send people to help him it will only hurt his pride as a mage. Just sit back and wait for your father to return." Master told Romeo. "But..." Romeo began only to be cut off by the Master by waving his hand. "Don't worry about him son, leave him be."Makarov told him. Romeo punched Makarov straight in the face causing him to fall over and walked away. Shiki and the others were listening in on this conversation between Master and Romeo. Suddenly Natsu punched the request board causing it to break. Shiki jumped back in surprise. "Hey don't punch the request board" a man standing near the board told Natsu. Natsu did not mind him but went out of the guild hall in anger. "What the hell is up with him?" Shiki asked Mira. "Don't worry about Natsu, he probably sees himself in Romeo. His own father left him when he was a small boy. By the way you might want to get your girlfriend out of there. Those guys play till you have no money left." Mira said pointing to Arcueid was playing cards with some of the members of Fairy Tail. "She is NOT my girlfriend" Shiki said while blushing furiously. "Could've fooled me" Mirajane replied back smirking. "You remind me of a person I knew in my home." Shiki said remembering his maid Kohaku. He strolled up to where Arcueid was sitting and dragged her from her seat despite her protests. He dragged her outside the building and asked "Do you know what you were doing?" "Playing cards." she replied "Playing cards sounds like a lot of fun." "Yeah right, you would have lost the little money that we have with us" Shiki scolded Arcueid. "Sorry" she replied looking down. Shiki felt bad for her as it probably was the first time she talked to so many humans as friends. Shiki then tried to cheer her up "You can't play cards but anything else you want we can do that." "Then let's go with them" Arcueid pointed down the road. Shiki looked at where she was pointing and saw Natsu and Lucy taking a carriage. "We'll ask them and if they agree we will go with them." Shiki told her.

Time skip

In the snowy mountains a furious blizzard is blowing through the skies and a lone carriage is seen making its way along the snow laden roads of the mountain. Within that carriage were four young people. Two blonde girls and a black haired boy were watching their progress though the snow, while the fourth a pink haired boy was slumped on the floor in obvious pain. "Are we there yet?" Natsu asked weakly. "No not yet" Lucy replied. After a few more minutes the carriage van suddenly stopped. "What happened?" Shiki asked the driver. "The blizzard is too strong, I can't take you kids any further" The van driver replied. "No problem we will walk on foot" Natsu replied eager to get out of the carriage. As they had no other option, in the end the others had to accept the idea. The foursome began climbing the snow clad mountain on foot.

After about half an hour Lucy said shivering "Brr it's too cold." "Yes I agree it is a bit cold for my taste." Shiki attested. "It is just a slight chill. It won't harm anybody" Arcueid replied. "I don't know what you are talking about. It does not seem at all cold here." Natsu replied. Shiki and Lucy glared daggers at his back. Natsu shivered in apprehension. "I don't know about you guys but I can't take the cold anymore" Lucy stated and took out a key from her pocket. "Open the gate of the clock Horologuim." Suddenly a giant pendulum clock appeared and engulfed Lucy. "Ah now it is a little bit comfortable here... that is what she says." Horologuim says. Suddenly the Ice in front of Natsu exploded and a giant hand smacked Natsu off the side of the cliff. "Natsu" Lucy screamed out dispelling Horologuim. Shiki took out his knife and got in a fighting stance while Arcueid just stood there in front waiting for the Mist to clear. When the mist lifted a giant monkey like creature was revealed. "It is a Vulcan" Lucy warned the others while getting ready to fight. Suddenly the Vulcan began dancing as if in glee. It then spoke to the amazement of the others "I like women but I hate men." At the last sentence the Vulcan charged straight at Shiki. Arcueid came in between the Vulcan and Shiki. She raised her claws and sends a slash at the Vulcan. Her slash tore through the ice and struck the Vulcan sending him flying away. "Shiki let me fight this thing." Arcueid replied. The creature got up relatively unharmed from the rubble of ice caused by the attack and sneered at her. "I usually don't harm women but I will kill you" it replied. The Vulcan charged straight at Arcueid who released another one of her slashes with her vampirical claws at the creature. This time the Vulcan was prepared for this and sidestepped her attack and swung his hand straight at her. His hand impacted on her side and flung her into a nearby glacier causing her to go inside. "Arcueid" Lucy screamed out again. She was shaking with sorrow and anger. "Don't worry about Arcueid. She will be fine." Shiki replied with surety. Shiki was going to step into the battle when Lucy took out another key from her pocket and said "I open the gate of the golden bull Taurus."

A giant bull wielding an axe appeared in front of Lucy. "Taurus is one of my strongest celestial spirits. When it comes to physical strength there is no match for Taurus." she explained. "Moo you have a fine body" Taurus said looking at Lucy. "Oh I forgot he is also a pervert" Lucy replied causing Shiki to face palm. Great now we have a perverted monkey as well as a bull. The Vulcan roared and charged only to be intercepted by Taurus. "No one shall hurt my Lucy's beautiful body" Taurus stated and caught hold of the Vulcan. Taurus flung the Vulcan away using brute force. While the Vulcan was down Taurus approached the Vulcan handling the axe. "It is time to finish this." He said raising his axe to deliver the finishing blow. The cliff erupted in flames and Natsu appeared flying over the side with the help of Happy. Natsu quickly charged at Taurus and send him flying in one attack dropping h is axe in the process. "One down one to go" He declared happily. Unfortunately for Taurus, Natsu send him flying to the very same spot where Arcueid was sent. As she was emerging from the ruin she saw Taurus flying towards her. She instinctively slashed with her claws sending Taurus crashing into the ice. Taurus became unconscious by the sheer power of the two attacks. The Vulcan saw the axe which Taurus had dropped and hefted it up. He slashed at Natsu with the axe. Natsu had to dive sideward to dodge it. "Natsu" Shiki cried in concern. "Taurus, wake up. If you get up I can close your gate and the axe will disappear." Lucy said while fanning an unconscious Taurus. The boy on the other hand was overjoyed to get a chance to fight a powerful enemy. "Now I'm all fired up." He declared before igniting his fists. The Vulcan swung the axe at Natsu only to be blacked by his ignited hands. The heat from his hands began to melt the axe and few drops of molten steel fell down which were consumed by Natsu. Natsu followed up with the Fire Dragon's Wing Slash. Natsu's attack threw the Vulcan away. Under the force of the attack the axe fell from its hand to the floor. Natsu did not stop there. He then brought both of his hands towards his mouth and yelled "Fire Dragon's Roar" releasing a torrent of flame from his mouth which engulfed the fallen Vulcan and burned him.

After the after effects of the attack faded the mist caused by the melting of ice cleared to reveal a badly hurt Vulcan. But as they watched the Vulcan began healing from his wounds and soon was in pristine form again. "How is that possible?" Natsu yelled in shock. "I can pass on my injuries to any human I take over. Hence I passed on the injuries you gave to this man." The Vulcan said before shimmering to reveal an Indigo haired man in his forties. His body had all the wounds that Natsu had inflicted on the Vulcan. "That's Macao" Natsu replied clearly shocked. "So he is the guy we came here to save?" Arcueid asked. "Yes. He is Macao. Romeo's Father." Natsu replied. "So how do we defeat the Vulcan without killing Macao? Any damage that we do would be transferred by the Vulcan on Macao." Lucy asked stating everyone's worry. "Leave it to me" Shiki said. He confidently flipped his knife around and strode towards the Vulcan. "To tell the truth we have not seen Shiki's magic till now. What would it be?" Lucy wondered. "It would be pretty amazing" Natsu replied. "He truly has a very unique technique." Arcueid replied. Shiki strode until he was only a couple of metres away from the now completely healed Vulcan. He slowly removed his glasses and put it in his pocket. The Vulcan could not contain itself any longer and dashed forward. "I hate men." It yelled and pummelled Shiki. Before his punch could connect with Shiki he disappeared surprising everyone except for Arcueid who was used to his style of fighting. He appeared behind the Vulcan and pierced his knife through a death spot just below its shoulder blades. The Vulcan turned around to punch Shiki but before it could punch him it disintegrated leaving behind a bruised body of Macao. "In Just one attack" Natsu and Lucy stared at Shiki with bulged eyes. Shiki strode over to the wounded Macao and inspected him. "Hey do you guys have any bandages to treat him. His condition seems to be pretty critical." Shiki asked the others. Lucy takes out some bandages and ointment. Natsu begins to cauterize his serious wounds after which Lucy would apply ointment and cover it with bandages. Shiki and Arcueid watched this process keeping vigil for any further attacks. By the time Lucy and Natsu finished almost the entire torso of Macao was covered in bandages. He regained consciousness and said sorrowfully "I defeated nineteen Vulcans before the last one surprised me and took over my body. How am I going to show my face in Fairy Tail after this humiliation?" "Don't worry nineteen Vulcans is a number to be proud of. A lesser man would be defeated by just one." Natsu told Macao. "I'm sure Romeo would be proud of you." He knelt down and supported Macao to stand. And together they walked back to the guild.

In the town of Magnolia the sun was setting in the evening sky. Romeo was sitting on the steps of Fairy Tail waiting for Natsu and the others. In the distance he saw few people approaching the town. He ran out to meet them. He saw Natsu and the others were back supporting an injured Macao. He rushed forward and hugged his dad. "I'm sorry dad to force you to go on that mission." "Don't be sorry son it was my fault for not doing missions recently." Macao replied before hugging his son tightly. Natsu wheeled the others around and pushed them away. "Our work here is done." He replied. Romeo and Macao watched Natsu and the others walk away towards the guild. Romeo declared "when I grow up I want to be just like Natsu."All four of them went back to the guild with a smile on their faces after seeing the honest happiness of Romeo. From there they parted ways Natsu and Lucy going to their home and apartment respectively. Shiki and Arcueid stayed in the Guild hall for some time. Shiki asked Mirajane "Do you know anyplace we could stay for the night?" "For today you can stay in the guild basement but you should find out an apartment to stay as soon as possible. Cheap apartments can be found near the riverside of Magnolia." "Thanks a lot. They make their way to the basement. There they find few beds comfortably furnished. They chose a bed and slept on it.

Unknown to all in a nearby town a new threat was emerging. "At last we have found it" A black haired man was telling some of his companions who were lifting a wooden box out of the Earth. "the legendary flute of the Black Mage Zeref, Lullaby."

**Author's Notes**

This chapter though it is following the canon is slightly different in the level of the Vulcan. In the anime the only reason given for the taking over of a human by a Vulcan was a power boost. So here I thought experimenting by increasing the power of the Vulcan by giving him the skill to pass on his wounds to a human take over. Also in this manner Shiki gets to show off his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

Explaination: As you may know Shiki's eyes does not kill a person rather he destroys the very meaning of the person's existence by piercing the death spots. Shiki pierces the death spot to destroy the Vulcan's existence. As he has not delivered a physical blow the Vulcan iss unable to transfer it to Macao.

I am planning to make the next chapter a side story which involves only Shiki and Arcueid. While Natsu and the others do the Daybreak mission.

Please review and voice your opinions and comments on this as well as the forthcoming chapters. Please voice your suggestions on a possible side quest.


	4. The King of Runes

**Author Notes**

First of all let me thank all the people who spent time reviewing my work. I have tried to improve my writing style hope you like it.

Secondly let me apologize for taking so long to post a new chapter. The main cause of this is that my school started so I am not able to spend as much time in front of my computer.

Kindly review the story after you read it.

**Side-quest 1: The King of Runes**

Shiki awoke to find Arcueid sleeping in her bed. He got up quietly so as to not awaken her. He went upstairs and saw that most of the guild members had already arrived.

"Hello Shiki, had a good sleep?" Mira asked pleasantly as Shiki made his way towards the bar. "Yes" Shiki replied. "Fight me" a voice called from behind Shiki. He turned around to see Natsu standing behind him. Before he could respond, a boy without clothes approached them and said to Natsu "You only think of fighting, you Hothead." "What did you say, you Popsicle?" Natsu ignited his hands. "Bring it on, Flame brain." Gray said while bringing his hands together. Within a few moments they began to fight with each other.

Shiki watched the pair in shock and surprise. "Are they always fighting with each other over petty matters?" Shiki asked Mirajane. "Yes, their rivalry goes back to when they were little kids." Mira replied.

A crash resounded as Natsu threw Gray into the wall. Gray picked himself up from where he had fallen and continued to fight Natsu. One by one, the other guild members joined the fight and soon almost the entire guild was fighting.

Arcueid woke up from the noise of the fighting. She looked for Shiki but didn't see him anywhere. She made her way upstairs as she thought Shiki had already gone up without her. As soon as she entered the guild hall, Elfman was sent flying in her direction. She managed to nimbly dodge it.

Dodging various guild members who were flung here and there, Arcueid reached the bar. Mira made her breakfast and gave it to her. Shiki and Arcueid slowly ate their breakfast while the fight around them subsided.

"Do you have anything planned for today?" Mira asked Arcueid. "Till now, we haven't planned anything." Arcueid replied. "Then I suggest you should take up a job. The reward money will help you buy a new apartment. You can't stay in the basement forever, you know." Mira suggested.

"What do you think?" Arcueid asked Shiki. "Yes, I think that is a great idea. Can you suggest a good job request?" he asked Mira. "Sure" she replied pleasantly.

Mira accompanied them to the request board. "A suitable mission for two new members would be a B or C class mission." "B class mission?" Arcueid asked. "Every mission is ranked according to the difficulty. An 'A' class mission is one which would involve possible conflict with other wizards. A 'B' class mission is one in which there is not much chance for conflict with another wizard. A 'C' class mission is the easiest missions to complete." Mira explained to them. All three of them began to look for a possible request.

After some time, Mira asked them "How about this? It is a B class mission. You have to go to the village of Acuna and catch some kidnappers."

"This would be a good way for you to learn stuff."

"Okay" Arcueid replied "We'll take this mission."

"Let me just register it, then you can leave." Mira went off to make a note of it and after a few minutes she told them

"I have registered, now you can go and do the mission. They thanked her and walked off.

On their way to the station they meet Lucy and Natsu. "Hey Lucy, Natsu, want to go on a job with us?" Arcueid called out to them.

"Sorry Arcueid, but we just accepted another request for destroying a book, so we can't accompany you."

"No problem it's alright." Shiki reassured her.

They walk to the station together from where Natsu and Lucy head off in one direction while Shiki and Arcueid head off towards Acuna village.

After a couple of hours they manage to reach Acuna village. The village was a desolate place, the houses were all run down and no one was on the streets. "This town looks abandoned. It's a ghost town as you humans say." Arcueid told Shiki. "Let's go and ask the chief." He pointed at a big building at the centre of the village.

They walk to the place. On the way, they could sense someone watching them, but still they did not see any sign of life. Once they reached the house, they knocked on the door. A small slit was opened in the door and a voice asked them "Who are you and what do you want?" "We are mages from the Fairy Tail guild and we have come here in response of a job offer." Arcueid told them. Slowly the door was opened and they were admitted inside.

The interior of the house was not much better than the exterior. Most of the furniture in the house was old and some were even broken. "We are sorry for the state of our house but since those kidnappers came, we have had no good fortune." "Please sit down and explain the situation to us" Shiki told the old man.

The old man began "One year ago our village was a very prosperous village. We had good trade relations with all the neighbouring towns and cities. For the cities, our village served as a link between them. But all this stopped when the kidnappers came to our village. They began kidnapping a few kids and asked for a huge ransom. We agreed to pay the ransom. But after taking the ransom, the kidnappers did not return our kids back. Since that day the kidnappers are taking a lot of money from us in the pretext of 'taking care' of our children. If we stop paying them money, they threaten to kill our children. Many of our village families left the village after this. In no time, our village was heading downhill. Soon the kidnappers had leeched us of all our money and yet they continue to harass us."

"Why didn't you inform it to the law enforcement officers?" Shiki asked.

"We did, but they were unable to do anything about them. The second time they refused to even come here. Finally we decided to ask the guilds for help. A couple of guilds answered our request initially but the members of the guilds were never seen again. After those incidents even the guilds are not accepting our request. Most of us have given up hope."

"Don't worry, we will try to do our best and get your children back without hurting them. Just lead us to the enemy's hideout." Arcueid told the chieftain.

"I can't go with you till the hideout but I can ask one of my men to show you where it is from a distance." The chieftain replied.

They both agreed. The village chief summons one of his men. He was a tall man and had an eye patch on his right eye and the right side of his face was scarred very badly. He tells him to lead Shiki and Arcueid to the kidnappers' hideout. The man is unwilling but after some persuasion, he agrees to do it. He leads them outside and takes them up a nearby hill. From the peak of the hill, he points to a castle on the nearby hill.

"That is the thieves' hideout." He said. "Please do your best to save the children. One of those children is my daughter. I was one of the men who went to force the kidnappers to return our kids to us. They did this to me." He said pointing to his face "Please be careful."

After saying this, he turned back, and walked away without waiting for an answer and hurriedly made his way back to the village. Shiki and Arcueid walked silently down the hill and up the next hill. At the peak they finally saw the castle in its entirety. It was a castle made out of black stone. It had an enormous gate and the towers loomed over them.

"Do you have any idea how to get inside?" Shiki asked Arcueid. She thought for a while and then replied "how about we break the entire gate and then enter the castle."

"No, you idiot we can't simply break it even if it belongs to the bad guys. Think of some other way."

As they were thinking on how to enter the castle, the castle gate screeched and fell open with a loud thud. "That solves our problem." Arcueid said cheerfully and walks into the castle as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"But this just confirms that the entire thing is a trap for us." Shiki whispered under his breath.

Just after the gates they saw an open door which led to a giant hallway. The hallway had a double storey arch and along its edges was balconies connected to the floor above. At the hallways end, there was an arch door and beyond it another similar hallway. The following hallways also followed the same pattern. They both walked through the main hallway and peered in each room as they go by searching for the kidnappers and more importantly the children. They had gone through the third hallway when three men jumped up from the balconies right in front of them causing them to jump backwards in surprise.

When the dust cleared, they saw the men more clearly. The first man had chestnut hair and had a build that looked like a wrestler. He wore a red shirt with matching trousers. The second and third men were also dressed similarly with the exception that their colour theme was green and blue respectively. The second man was unnaturally tall and lanky. His cheeks were sullen and his eyes sunken in. The third man had an average height and build. All three of them had a strange rune on their foreheads

"We Max, Luc and Shem are the trinity guardians of this castle and we shall not let you pass." They chorused together.

Arcueid and Shiki got into their fighting stances while the Trinity brought their hands together. The red clothed guy shouted "**Special Max takedown**". A magic circle appeared and in the next instant he had slammed Shiki into the wall. The other guy yelled "**Luc Style** **Soul capture** **Technique**." White ribbons emerged from the ground and headed in Arcueid's direction. She dodged a few of them but one managed to wrap around her ankle.

"Ughh" she said before she felt all of her power drain away. She collapsed gasping at the floor. The last member of the trinity took advantage of her weakened position and used his magic "**Shem Killer Ball**". A multicoloured ball appeared in his hands and he threw it at her. The ball exploded as soon as it touched her.

"That was easy." Luc said.

"Way quicker than we expected." Shem replied.

"Hn" Max grunted removing himself from the wall.

As he was removing himself, Shiki emerged from the rubble relatively unhurt.

"Oh boy, you sure are very heavy, you nearly crushed me flat just now." Shiki told to Max while removing his spectacles.

"Ho...w how is this possible, no one has ever survived Max's 'Takedown'" Luc said astounded.

"And that is not all, there is more to it. Hey Arcueid how long do you plan to remain hidden, show yourself." Shiki called out. Arcueid stood up on the balcony above pouting.

"Oi Shiki, you ruined my fun. I wanted to watch their shock when they saw us." Arcueid said. She jumped from the balcony and landed lightly on her feet.

The trinity were now changing their fear into indignation and came charging to attack Shiki and Arcueid. But this time both of them were ready. "**Special Max Takedown**" Max yelled and dashed at Shiki. Shiki jumped over Max and used his own momentum to topple Max into the wall. He quickly came up behind Max and cut the lines of his magic before he could recover from the damage. Shiki then hit Max's head with the hilt of his knife sending him into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile Arcueid was fighting the other two guys.

"How did you manage to recover from my Soul Capture technique? That technique should have drained your power and made you unable to even move." Luc asked sending few of his Soul capture ribbons towards Arcueid. Shem was staying behind Luc for now.

"I have reserves." Arcueid replied dodging his ribbons. Arcueid looked towards Shiki and saw that he had finished his fight. "Looks like Shiki have finished his fight . I should also finish my fight." She said and used her Vampire claws to shred all of the soul capture ribbons.

"Wh... what power" Luc said amazed. In the blink of an eye she caught hold of Luc and flipped him away into the wall. The wall hit Luc's forehead. Unconsciousness was immediate. Shem appeared behind Arcueid "Now die! **Shem Killer Ball**" he brought his attack towards her exposed back, only to have it slashed by her Vampire claws. Arcueid clawed at the ball causing it to explode in Shem's hand. Both of his hands got burnt very badly. Arcueid moved in for finishing Shem off.

"Wait Arcueid." Shiki shouted out stopping her "Let me try something." He walked towards them, Shem tried to escape, but was pinned down by Arcueid. Shiki approached him and took out his knife and made a cut on his forehead exactly where the rune was. The rune instantly faded leaving Shem trembling.

"Thank... thank y... Thank you for sav... saving Me." he gasped out between breaths.

"What do you mean?" Shiki asked him

"My name is Fresh and I am a mage who belong to the Giant Cauldron guild. These two were also mages from different guild. We all probably had come here for the same reason of saving the children but the leader of the kidnappers defeated each of us. Once he defeats a person, he uses forbidden rune spells to make the person his obedient slave for the rest of his life. Both of my companions are imprisoned in here somewhere. They are probably going to be made into his slaves next. Please I beg of you, " leave now and do not fall into his hands". If he gets mages like you under his control, he would be unstoppable."

"Don't worry about us. We'll definitely defeat this guy and save the villagers' children as well. As a bonus, we get to free the mages as well. Just tell us the location where this guy is hiding. We'll take care of it from there." Shiki told him.

"Yes he's right, we would never let ourselves be caught by him." Arcueid reassured him.

"Fine then, the chief of the kidnappers is in the courtroom of the castle. Just follow this pathway and you will reach the courtroom. The other kidnappers are with the children either down in the basement or up in the towers. You probably would fight the kidnapper alone but be careful; he is not to be trusted one bit."

"Thanks a lot." Arcueid said to him and together she and Shiki walked towards the courtroom.

"So what do you think about this guy? Which type of magic does he use" Arcueid asked.

"He seems to be a guy capable of using a form of mind subordination magic. But as far as I can see, this magic requires him to place that rune on his targets forehead."

"So basically we have to try to avoid getting too close to him and take him down from a distance."

They reached the doors leading to the court. It was made out of solid gold and the handle of the door was the head of a dragon. Beside the door, there were two golden statues. One of them was in the figure of a giant serpent while the other was that of a crocodile.

"The people who build this castle surely overdid it with this door." Arcueid commented dryly.

Shiki pushed open the door and they both entered the court at the same time. There were 12 grand chairs on either side and toward the centre of the back wall was the throne. Unlike the rest of the castle, the throne was made out of black rock. The only other occupant of the room was a dark haired man who sat on the throne. He was tall and muscular as well. He wore a black T-Shirt and black trousers.

"Welcome guests to my humble abode. I am the owner of this castle and your host Nick. How can I be of service to you?" the man said cheerfully. He clapped his hands and the doors closed behind Shiki and Arcueid.

Shiki and Arcueid immediately raised their guards and Shiki replied "Hand over the children you have kidnapped from the villagers and promise that you will never trouble the villagers again. If you do so, we will not harm you otherwise we will have to use force."

The man on the chair began laughing wildly on hearing this.

"Is he crazy?" Arcueid asked.

"Ha ha, you think, you can use force on me well go ahead and try."

"I'll handle him. Shiki, you stay back. My claws can defeat him from a distance."

Arcueid tried to change her hands into claws but nothing happened. She looked confused.

Seeing her confused face Shiki asked her "What's wrong Arcueid?"

"I don't know. I can't turn my hands into claws."

"So at last you have realized what you are into." Nick said approaching them slowly "My magic is a type of rune magic and this entire room is surrounded by what I like to call humanization runes. These runes suppress any special ability and make you completely human. A wizard without magic is even more pathetic than an ordinary human."

Shiki removed his glasses but he could not see the death lines. Suddenly a realization hit him. "You said your runes suppress any special ability. That means that within this room even you are unable to use your magic."

"Yes that is a downside to my humanization rune, but you'll see how I overcame it." Nick said and then charged towards Shiki.

"Arcueid stay back I'll handle this guy."

"You'll handle me? don't make me laugh." Nick said and before Shiki could even react he kicked him in the gut.

Shiki collapsed on the floor coughing. Without giving Shiki any time to recover, he brought his hand down on the back of Shiki's throat. Shiki just barely managed to evade his attack and rolled away to a safe distance. He then brought out his knife and flipped it backwards. Nick again attacked him with a volley of punches. Shiki managed to evade some of the punches but the sheer speed of the punches made most of them connect. All Shiki could do was protect his vital organs. At last he hit Shiki with his palm sending him toppling backwards. Shiki quickly managed to regain his balance.

"I see, you've overcome the lack of your magic by training your body to fight hand to hand." Shiki told Nick

"You're not too bad yourself. Most people would lose after the first few hits. Your posture also tells me that you are well versed in physical combat." Nick replied.

"Thanks for the compliment but this is as far as you go." Shiki told him

"You've got some nerve saying that. After all, till now you have not even been able to put a scratch on me."

Shiki didn't answer. He leaned forward putting his arms behind him and charged straight at Nick.

"Speed won't get you anywhere. You have seen how superior I am to you in terms of speed."

Shiki had managed to come within striking range by this time. Nick threw a mach punch straight at where Shiki's face was attempting to knock him out. But just before his fist connected with Shiki's face, Shiki disappeared startling him. His punch uselessly hit the floor. Meanwhile Shiki reappeared behind him and made a cut with his knife just above the back of his knee. Nick saw him and gave a kick to Shiki's torso sending him flying backwards. Shiki got up and coughed some blood before standing again.

"You see the difference in our skill level. While you only managed to scratch me I dealt a heavy blow to you. Now I'll finish you off."

Nick again got ready to charge at Shiki, but this time he collapsed on the floor.

"What happened to me?" Nick asked curiously.

"You seemed to be proud of your great speed and all of your techniques relied heavily on your footwork so I just disabled the use of your foot for quite some time by cutting some of your tendons,"

"What? how is that possible? Who are you? How could you land such a precise hit without the aid of magic? And that too in such a short time. Just who the hell are you?" Nick asked, shock clearly visible on his face.

"He belongs to a long family of assassins, it is just a small matter for him to do this to you." Arcueid said with a little bit of pride in her voice.

Shiki approached him and said "This is goodbye." He slammed the hilt of the knife into his forehead knocking him out instantly. "Now to take care of the rest."

"Where do you think we should go first? Fresh said that some of the kidnappers are in the towers while the others are in the dungeon." Arcueid asked him.

"The towers. The kidnappers in the tower might flee if we go to search the dungeons."

They got out of the castle building into its courtyard. There they went rightto reach the tower. The kidnappers were standing at the foot of the tower while there was no sign of the children anywhere.

"Where are the children?" Shiki asked the men.

They were surprised to hear his voice. Some of them got ready to fight while others held back. At last they overcame their surprise and attacked Shiki and Arcueid at the same time. Shiki and Arcueid quickly finished them. Within a minute, all ten of the kidnappers were lying unconscious at their feet. Arcueid went up to the door of the tower and pulled the door out of its hinges. Within the tower, there were many children cowering in fear. They were extremely surprised to see what Arcueid had done.

"Don't worry we are here to rescue you." Arcueid assured them.

"It is of no use. There are over thirty guards in this castle. You should escape while you still can. If they catch you, they are going to make slaves out of you." A young boy replied. He had chestnut hair and hazel eyes. He wore a loose fitting dress.

"We have already taken care of most of the kidnappers." Arcueid revealed to them.

They were evidently surprised to hear this and many of the children got up to see if it really was true. The sight they saw restored their courage and soon all of the children got up and followed them. Shiki directed them towards the gate of the castle.

"Wait for us here. We are going to rescue your other companions." Shiki and Arcueid went back inside the castle. They reached the stairway of the castle and took the stairs leading down. After going down a couple of levels, they reached the dungeon. The dungeon was like any other typical dungeon- cold, dark stone walls with small holes for windows, having bars separating the cells from each other. The kidnappers had formed a gang around the centre of the castle. Shiki and Arcueid walked down the final few stairs. The kidnappers were not yet aware of their presence and had their backs turned towards them. They decided to take advantage of the situation and take the kidnappers by surprise. But before they could even move, a voice called out.

"Stop where you are or this kid dies."

The kidnappers move aside to reveal an elder kidnapper with a knife to a young girl's throat. The girl seemed about 12 years of age and was weeping. Shiki and Arcueid stopped moving instantly.

"Good, now throw away your weapon." He said to Shiki. He complied.

The kidnappers began to laugh and mock them. Some of the kidnappers approached them and punched them in the face. At that instant before any man could respond, Arcueid had reached the girl and pierced her claws through the other man's shoulder causing him to let go off the knife in pain.

Shiki saw this but was powerless to do anything without his knife. The kidnappers punched him. One of them punched him in his already wounded gut. Shiki collapsed on the floor almost losing consciousness. One of the kidnappers raised his leg to stamp his face. He closed his eyes bracing for impact which never came. He opened his eyes to see Arcueid standing before him smiling and the kidnapper who was standing above him until a minute ago, smashed in a nearby wall.

"Thanks Arcueid, I was really a goner there."

He looked around to see all of the kidnappers had been taken care of by Arcueid alone. They brought the remaining kids out of the dungeon and together with the other kids began their long descent down the mountain.

After a long and uneventful trek over the mountains they were able to see the village in the distance. The sun was on the verge of setting down, painting everything in a reddish hue. Upon seeing their village, all the children were very happy and excited. They rushed down the hill towards the village.

In the village, the local scout was very surprised at the sight in front of him. He rangthe town bells. The bells rang with a loud clang and everybody rushed out of their houses in alarm. When they saw the children rushing towards them, their alarm turned to joy and many of them rushed forwards and embraced the children. In the happiness of the reunion after a long period of separation, the villagers had forgotten about Shiki and Arcueid. Except for one that is.

"I don't know how to thank you guys for what you have done for us. By returning our children to us, you not only have brought merriment back into the village but also renewed our will to survive. Please accept this as a token of my thanks." The village elder said giving 2,000,000 jewels to them.

"Thanks a lot, we will be taking your leave then." Shiki said preparing to leave.

"Please wait; we have a huge party tonight in order to celebrate the homecoming of our children. If you stay, it would be much more fitting."

"Thanks but we'll pass for now. We have to get back to town by the 8:30 train."

"Aww please Shiki, I want to see the party. Arcueid pleaded.

"But we would miss our train." He said

"We can always go walking."

"I can't walk as far as you, you know. I am a human after all."

"We'll manage, don't worry."

Shiki could see that he would never get anywhere with this argument so he reluctantly agreed to attend the party.

The party was a grand one and Shiki and Arcueid were given the seats of honour and after the party, they were offered a place to spend the night which they refused preferring to travel in the night as it was a full moon. When they left almost the entire village was there to bid them farewell.

"Well that was an exciting event. Hope we get to do such missions more often." Arcueid said while they were walking along the road.

"I personally would prefer not to do such missions. I am still hurting all over with my fight with that guy."

And they walked throughout the night reaching the neighbouring town the next morning. As soon as they reached the town they booked a room in a local lodge had some food (not in case of Arcueid who had 3 plates of ramen) and passed out tired on the bed.

**Author's notes**

Hope you liked this chapter. Please don't forget to review.


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